Out of Touch
by Ditto Redeaux
Summary: Sometimes it's just too easy to get out of touch A two shot story focusing on the Master and the Doctor, the first chapter is in their academy years at Prydon, the second following the Christmas Invasion. Sick!Doctor
1. Out of Touch

_Apparently when I take sleeping pills I write. So here is the first installment of Out of Touch, a two parter looking at the relationship between The Doctor and The Master from their school years til the beginning of the end, and how we all just need someone to understand sometimes. I do not own Doctor Who, BBC does. Read and review._

_If there is enough response there will be a short third segment of this._

_D.R._

Out of Touch

To Koschei, the day's tech class couldn't have been more boring, and it had only just started. Theta was late, and Theta had no reason to be late since Koschei hadn't been late. The professor didn't even seem to have noticed his friend's absence despite it being all Koschei could focus on, and furtive looks at Drax and Ushas earned him nothing but a glare from Ushas and a helpless shrug from Drax. At least he could more or less rule out that Theta wasn't caught up in something Deca related that he had just been out of the loop on. He gave a halfhearted mental probe towards a general thought of Theta, but it didn't exactly do anything, not without his friend nearby. Not that he had expected it to. They might have practiced so they didn't have to touch, but it didn't go much past a few feet.

Koschei didn't even realize he was tapping until he got another vicious glare from Ushas that had him shuffling his feet and sinking lower in his chair as he crossed his arms. She rolled her eyes at his petulant scowl and turned her interest back to the class as Koschei turned his thoughts back towards Theta.

He and Theta had a spat the night before over that same tapping, but he didn't think Theta would skip class over that. It hadn't even been that big of a deal. They had both been tired and tense, and Koschei had said some things he didn't really mean, and it had been stupid. Anyways, Theta always forgave him because he was Theta, and that was what Theta did. Still, if Theta was going to stay angry about it, so was he, he wasn't about to go asking for forgiveness. Two could play that game.

His resolve lasted through the end of class; in fact, it lasted until he was intercepted by a younger member of The Deca just outside of his classroom.

"Koschei!" Millennia called after him, worming her way through the throng of students. Koschei didn't see her as much as some of the other Deca members as they didn't share any classes aside from Borusa's, but she was hard to miss with her bright blue hair clashing spectacularly with the Prydon uniforms. He lost her for a moment in the crowd and contemplated diving in after her when she resurfaced in front of him, shoving blue locks away from her face and looking vaguely flustered. "I was afraid I was going to miss you, I tried to catch up with you before class but-" She laughed helplessly, at his raised eyebrow she nervously rustled around in her bag, "I um- I told Theta Sigma that I would get him the notes from our temporal engineering class, and he forgot his book." She stammered, clearly anxious in the quickly emptying hall, shoving a text book towards him which he crammed into his own bag.

"Why didn't you just give it to him at lunch or wait until Borusa's class?" That would be their first class after lunch which he was missing because of this, although if he and Theta were still on the outs he wasn't sure if lunch with the rest of their friends would be all that comfortable. It never was pretty when two members were fighting.

She looked at him as though he had just dribbled on his shirt which Koschei was quite sure he hadn't, but the expression rather reminded him of Ushas. It was an entirely logical suggestion, why wouldn't she just give it to him herself? It would have saved her from making the detour to meet him at his class. "Right then, well, just see that he gets it, yeah?" She turned away and Koschei thought that was that, but then she turned back halfway down the hall and called out, "And Koschei?" He turned back towards her, "Tell him I hope he feels better?" His eyebrows which had taken up residence high on his forehead drew down and knitted tightly together, and he found himself tugging at the start of the goatee he had been trying to grow in.

Koschei unlocked the door of the dormitory room he shared with Theta Sigma, "Are these the lengths you go to to avoid me Theta? _Hiding_ in our room?" Still, he wasn't expecting to open the door into near entire darkness or the distinct pungent smell of illness, "Theta?" He asked turning up the lights and dropping his bag inside the door, the lump on the far bed whimpered slightly and curled up into a tighter ball.

Koschei found himself dimming the lights and crossing to crouch down to the beds level. He ran a hand through the sandy hair, brushing it back from the other's face, and rubbed the pad of his thumb in little circles over the tensed muscles he found on his forehead, "Thete…" He trailed off with a sigh, "You know, it's hard to stay mad at you when you're like this." He chided lightly, and a hand moved to weakly slap at him, but it fell short halfway there,

"Hush Kosch." The boy admonished tiredly.

"How long has this been going on then?" Koschei asked mildly, standing and turning to get a glass of water, Theta had to be dehydrated and he didn't seem likely to move on his own.

"Yesterday." Came the bit out reply and Koschei winced. Oops. "Wasn't this bad though… Isn't as bad as it was though either; comes and goes."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Theta actually opened his eyes at the apology to see Koschei looming over him with a sopping piece of cloth and a glass and fixed him with a bleary but wary look. "What?" Theta gave a snort and closed his eyes again. Koshchei dropped the wet cloth onto Theta's eyes, ignoring the protesting squawk and brightened the lights. "Leave it." He warned when Theta moved to dislodge the compress, with another whine at realizing how bright it was, even though the lights were only at a quarter power at best, he pressed the compress deeper into his eyes instead. Koschei bit back an "I told you so" and flopped onto his own bed with his homework on ethics.

Koschei had been perusing Theta's anthology of children's tales. He didn't have to read the words, every child probably had the tale of _Snowana_ ingrained in their minds, but the pictures and text held a comforting familiarity, and a distraction since he didn't have Theta to talk to, the boy having drifted into a fitful sleep. He glanced up when his friend gave a groan of pain, "You alright Thete?" he asked, though his answer came quickly in the form of dry heaving. He managed to get to him before he could face plant off the bed. The heaving subsided and was replaced with ragged breaths; he was crying, Koschei recognized distantly, and he wasn't sure which was worse. "Easy Theta, I've got you."

"_Rassilon_, my head!" Theta sobbed, clinging to the lapels of Koschei's uniform though he abruptly let go at the next stab of pain to drive his palms into his eye sockets. He continued to sob, writhing on the bed, and it combined with those infernal drums and something deep inside Koschei snapped and he fled.

Millennia found Koschei by chance in one of the labs. He was sitting on the other side of one of the work stations. "I didn't expect to see you here." She said mildly, pulling out a test tube rack and setting it on the bench, "How's Theta Sigma?" Koschei just shook his head "You don't know or-"

"He's sick" The older boy snapped, "He's sick and he's in pain and I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't stay there-" He was mortified to find tears falling down his face and he clenched his hands into fists, nails biting at the soft flesh of his palms, willing himself to stop.

"So you left him?" She didn't exactly sound sympathetic.

"What was I supposed to do? Theta's always been the caregiver and I've always been-" _The one who needed caring._

He _needed_ Theta, and with that thought he buried his face in his arms and gave up trying not to cry.

The thought must have been said out loud or else Millennia was an incredibly powerful telepath because she lowered herself to sit next to him and said, "Well, maybe this time he needs you Koschei." She sighed and rubbed a hand across his shoulder blades until the sobs fell away to hiccoughs. "Koschei, I helped out in the medical wing last year, and at exams we had a ton of students in there with migraines."

He gave her a confused look, "So? Lots of students get sick at exams."

"Stress can trigger migraines Koschei."

"Yes, you already said that… more or less."

"Koschei, Theta Sigma has migraines."

He scoffed openly, finally catching her meaning, "You can't be serious, I think I would notice if my best friend was stressed enough to be having episodes like this, he would tell me, anyways, what does Theta have to be stressed about?"

"Oh for the love of _Pazithi_. You're smarter than this Koschei!" She exclaimed, "Theta Sigma has loads to be stressed about! He's not like you or the rest of us in The Deca, he is _failing_ the majority of his classes, he just can't test, and I don't know what else is going on in that big brain of his, but when he isn't stressing about class and whatever else there is, and more so than all of that, he's worrying himself sick over you."

Koschei looked at her then, blue eyes wide as saucers, "_Me_?" He asked incredulously, "What-"

She shook her head, blue hair bouncing, raising her voice as he stood and began to pace "He is terrified Koschei, he can't even talk to you because he thinks you're going to go off the edge one of these days, he thinks he's going to lose you forever and that scares him more than his grades, more than anything else, because you mean the world to him, and _everyone_ can see that."

"Shut up, _shut up_!" He was tugging at his hair frantically, but Millennia pressed on,

"Koschei, he _needs_ you! Can't you see that?" She moved around the workbench to cut him off from escaping at the other end.

"No! Shut up!" He screamed throwing a box of glass test tubes at the wall where they shattered on impact.

"Koschei! You aren't helping Theta Sigma when you're like this, now _stop_!" He was actually a bit terrifying, well more than a bit, but Theta was her friend too. He did stop though, going nearly limp against the work bench, and when he looked back at her his lower lip had begun to wibble and his eyes were once again wide and shining, "No that's not gonna help either, _Pazithi_ you switch fast don't you, Theta Sigma always said you were a bit… well… Now come on, he needs you, what are you going to do?"

When Koschei returned Theta was sitting up in bed, working on copying the notes over from Millennia's, he broke into a weak smile when he looked up to see Koschei standing nervously in the doorway. "You came back."

"I left, I ran, I-"

Theta cut him off, "You came back, that's what's important, and I am sorry, I am so sorry, I never meant for you to see that. Are you alright?" The question flustered Koschei, the sheer sincerity behind it, and he felt that familiar burning sensation in his eyes, that embarrassing first tear clinging to his lashes. Theta calmly opened his arms, and it took all of Koschei's self-control not to run into them where he would be safe, where he could pretend none of it ever happened. "_Kosch_" That single word, that shortening of his nickname, that did in his self-control. Theta managed to get a cup of steaming liquid away from Koschei who had been clinging to it like a life line and set it down on the bedside table while at the same time he folded Koschei into an embrace, letting his friend sob out all of the injustices of the day as he rocked him, Koschei mumbled something incoherently into his shoulder, "Pardon?"

The answer was a bit clearer though still muffled in the fabric of his tunic, "You must hate me, you _should_ hate me."

Theta pulled away from Koschei enough to look him in the eye, "You are bone dead stupid you are, you're a genius, you're stone cold brilliant, but you are _so_ stupid. You still can't see the obvious after all these years, Koschei, I could never hate you; I _love_ you too much." And with that he pulled the darker boy back to him in a crushing hug, not letting go until the sobs finally quieted, "And now the real question remains, what _is_ in that cup?" He asked as Koschei wiped his eyes.

Koschei brightened considerably, grabbing the cup and holding it out for Theta, "There's this planet called _E-arth_, and there's these indigenous creatures in this one region, _humans_ they call themselves, Ushas studies them, and apparently they're an utterly pathetic little race, they look like us, but they only have one heart and this miniscule little life span, completely insignificant, but they found this drink, and they claim it solves _everything_, everything in just one little cup, though some problems, like politics, take a whole pot. _Tea_ they call it and all it is is these leaves and stuff with boiling water poured over them. Of course we don't have any human bits here, so I just had to make do with what I could find."

Theta raised a brow dubiously as what looked like a stick floated to the top, but Koschei was staring expectantly at him, so Theta took a sip and hid his grimace behind a smile, "I don't know what to say Kosch," He faked a second sip, "In fact, I'm feeling better already, doesn't even take a whole cup." The resultant smile was worth the lie, it would always be worth the lie.

"Really?"

"Really." He set the cup back down. "Um, Koschei, listen, about yesterday, it was no excuse, I-" Koschei shook his head.

"Theta I- I want to try something." And those long nimble fingers that Theta so loved slid into place on his psy points. He resisted at first, trying to clamp down on all his thoughts, to save Koschei from his own despair, but eventually he gave in and placed his own hands on Koschei's face in a mirror image, bringing their foreheads to touch, their thoughts and emotions melding, mingling, pouring everything they hadn't put into words into the other, all of the unspoken fears, everything, and Koschei could feel the remaining tension slowly leave Theta, for a moment there was nothing between them. Eventually Theta broke it, tangling their fingers and dragging their hands down. Their breathing was uneven as they stared into each other's eyes. "Don't lose me Theta, please, don't lose me. Don't lose me and don't give up on me."

Theta gathered him back into his arms, "I never would Kosch, _I never would_." He promised, holding onto him fiercely, willing to face whatever nightmares would come for him.

Millennia and Ushas walked through the halls later that night, each carrying a stack of papers. Two of their boys had missed the majority of their classes for the day, and Ushas didn't trust the other boy's not to muck up a simple homework delivery.

When the door opened, Theta was half sitting half lying with a drawn look and a slightly pinched expression. Koschei was asleep, curled half on top of him, his head pressed to Theta's chest, precariously near his hearts. Theta was using one hand to take notes while the other idly played with Koschei's dark hair. He glanced up at them as Ushas held up the stack of assignments and smiled faintly waving her in and towards the desk, when he spotted Millennia he mouthed "Thank you" earning him a gentle smile.

Ushas gently removed the notes Theta had been working on, undid Koschei's shoes, and grabbed the duvet from Koschei's bed, using it to cover both of her boys. She brushed her hand across Theta's cheek with a single insistence of _sleep_, causing his eyes to droop nearly instantly.

She gave them a last fond eye roll as she turned off the lights, but before Millennia could close the door a quiet voice reached them, "Thete," Koschei had half stirred, "I love you too."

"I know you do Kosch, I know you do."


	2. Never Alone

_Shhh, just accept it, I wasn't going to make you lot wait any longer. Might do some corrections later but yeah._

_D.R._

* * *

"My nose hurts."

The statement had been quiet, so low, so absurd, Jackie almost missed it. "Your _nose_ hurts?" Her daughter asked.

"No." He shoved Rose's legs off of his lap where they had been resting unperturbed for the last three hours' worth of Star Trek movies, and leaned forward to bury his face in his hands with a muffled groan, fingers tangling in his already mussed hair. "Rassilon, my head."

Rose sat up from where she had been leaning against Mickey, "Doctor, what is it? What's wrong?" She didn't expect her hand to be shaken off. "Hey mister." She prodded him lightly in the ribs, trying to cajole a smile from him; she had already discovered that his new body was overly ticklish. He didn't even budge, so she pouted at him instead, eventually reaching for him again, fingers extended.

"Rose, leave him." Mickey advised, tugging her away from the time lord, and The Doctor might have thanked him for it if he could just put his thoughts together right. He dragged his hands down his face, and watched as the world swirled and shimmied around the edges, kaleidoscoping in front of him, sounds merging into colors, colors into sounds. It was so not good timing, and somehow he didn't think he would be able to shake Rose long enough for him to escape to the peace of the TARDIS while he allowed her to drift in the vortex until he could see straight again.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there watching the world twist in an odd phantasmagoria of shapes, colors, and sound, everything dripping in color so thick he could taste it, he was vaguely aware of Jackie shooing Rose and Mickey out of the main room and into the kitchen. He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but he couldn't be bothered enough to attempt to make sense of any of it.

Eventually a warm hand rested on his elbow, and another wrapped around his shoulders, lifting him from the couch and guiding him back to the bedroom he had spent the majority of Christmas Eve and Christmas in, and now apparently the day after the day after Christmas. "Don't step in the color puddles." He warned her seriously as the world dripped around them. "Colored poodles rather." He corrected himself. "My head." Why was it always so hard to keep things straight? He shut his eyes tightly against the world, choosing to trust Jackie to not run him head long into any walls.

"Hush you plum." She pushed him down into the bed, drawing the covers up around him. "You know what's happening?" It took him a moment to make his head move in the right dimension to nod. A migraine, he had been prone to them starting as a student on Gallifrey. "Good. Take these," She said pressing two pills into his palm, "They aren't aspirin," She pitched before he could protest "Rose said none of that, these are all natural, the packaging said so, I popped down to the grocers down the street before Mickey and Rose went out. Might help at least take the edge off." She held a glass of water to his lips and he threw them back, pulling a face at the bitter after taste before settling back into the pillows. He managed to doze for about fifteen minutes before he threw off the covers and ran for the bathroom; Jackie gave him a few moments of privacy before following him and hovering in the door.

"There's got to be someone I can ring, Rose said no hospitals, but you haven't been exactly well since-"

"No" He choked out, "Please, it's just-" He gagged again before spitting and flushing, pillowing his head on his arm "Just let me sleep this off, 'm fine." He promised thinly. He allowed her to help him back to bed after a while where he promptly fell back asleep.

Nearly an hour later there was a knock at the door. _1234_ "Howard, I told you not to come round tonight, Rose is here." Jackie called through the door as she undid the chain. However, when she opened the door it wasn't Howard standing there. "Who are you? What are you doing here at this time of the night? Yes, Charles Dickens, I'm talking to you" He looked ridiculous and seemed taken aback at being addressed in such tones, and he had actually turned to look over his shoulder to see if there was perhaps someone else. He pointed at himself questioningly. "Who else would I be talking to?"

He looked fifty shades of confused. Jackie was clearly not who he was expecting to answer the door, and Jackie had enough loitering and slammed it shut. She shook her head and moved into the kitchen. _1234_ She tried to ignore it, she really did. _1234 _"Doctor?" _1234 _"Doctor!" The shouting did her in.

She flung open the door, "I have neighbors you know!" She hissed, but with an anxious expression he pushed past her into the apartment. "What do you mean by this? Just bursting in here, what do you need him for?" He ignored her and turned into Jackie's destroyed bedroom. He didn't seem to care about the mess though, brown eyes focusing on the man lying prone in the bed.

"What have you done to him?" His voice was low, horrified. The Doctor, his Doctor, was never still, and that in itself was terrifying.

"Nothing, he's just having a bit of a lie down." The man crossed to the bed and rested a hand against the Doctor's thin chest before his eyebrows knitted further together, "Oh leave him sleep."

He tore open the shirt the Doctor was wearing, sending buttons scattering about, ignoring Jackie's shout of protest, "This is not _nothing_." His tone was even but anger seethed under the surface. Jackie saw what the man had noticed up close, a fine, angry, red rash extended across his torso. "Now, I will ask you again, very, very calmly, what have you done to him?"

"I told you, nothing, he had a headache, so I gave him something for it, and he went to sleep, that's all."

"What did you give him?"

"It's nothing, it's all natural!" Still she produced the bottle and he snatched it away from her, eyes scouring the label.

"All natural and nothing are not synonymous." He cracked his neck as he slowly turned his head to her after reading the bottle. "This is willow bark."

"Right, see it's all natural, the bagger said it didn't have aspirin, perfectly harmless."

The man went very quiet for a moment, and then the bottle bounced off the side of Jackie's head before falling harmlessly to the floor and rolling away, and then the shouting started.

"What was that for?" Jackie cried emphatically.

"Do you know what willow bark is?"

"I dunno, the bark from a willow tree?" The man on the bed groaned, writhing a bit, and it silenced any response from Mister Dickens, from either of them really. The man dropped to his knees, tangling his fingers into the Doctor's and brushing his free hand through the shock of thick brown hair.

His head rolled to the side and his eyes opened half way, "Koschei." The word was little more than a breath.

"I'm here Thete." He promised, a whisper nearly too low for Jackie to hear, "I'm right here."

The Doctor might have replied with "You came back" but Jackie couldn't be sure.

"I" The monosyllabic word was choked off, and he shook his head pressing those delicate fingers to his own lips. She took the moment to sneak out of the room.

She glanced back into the room some time later, the man was sitting in her bed, the Doctor pulled protectively to his chest, slack jawed, head lolling lifelessly against the other's shoulder.

He glared at her, barring his teeth when she lingered too long, but then the Doctor's breath hitched a bit, and Jackie felt ashamed for not noting how tight it had been when she had checked on him, "Don't you dare die on me, don't you dare leave me now. You promised, all those years ago at the academy, remember the academy, the Deca? You promised, don't you dare." He hefted the lanky man more securely in his arms, trying to help him breathe.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked tentatively stepping into the room, he gave a sharp bark of laughter.

"What, you haven't done enough? What are you doing? Don't touch him you stunted little ape." He hissed savagely, drawing away from the hand she extended towards them. She retreated from the room but returned a moment later with a steaming bowl of sharp smelling water. He didn't snap at her when she sat on the edge of the bed, though he did watch her motions warily.

"Rose caught croup when she was still in primary." She explained stirring the bowl, releasing more of the scent into the air, "When she couldn't breathe at night I used to sit up with her and do this, the steam would help, and the peppermint was supposed to also help ease the tightness."

It had a nearly instantaneous affect and The Doctor was soon breathing easier. She took one of the man's hands and curled it around the bowl she had been holding. Jackie patted his leg before standing.

The next time she checked in on them both men were asleep, the Doctor's head tucked underneath the other's chin.

Jackie woke to a muffled scream around one the next morning, not remembering when she had fallen asleep. The light in her room was on, and when she looked around the corner she could see the Doctor thrashing about on the bed, crying out words that she couldn't understand.

"What is it?" The man cast her an annoyed look that came across more tired and haggard than anything. "I heard screaming."

"A nightmare." His voice was clipped as the Doctor thrashed, he managed to pin his wrists above his head with one hand while another pressed against his temples. "Listen to me." The strange man commanded, all but straddling the lithe form even as the Doctor went nearly limp beneath him at the contact "You're safe." Those were the last words she could understand though before they trailed into some other language. She felt like she was spying on something very private, but she couldn't tear her eyes away even as the words melted away and Mr. Dickens rolled them so he was no longer on top but they were lying side by side, entangled in each other.

Jackie was curled on the settee when the stranger finally abandoned his patient. "How is he?"

"Fine. Resting."

"He'll be alright then?"

"Yes, just-"

"No more willow bark, got it." She caught the bemused half smile he shot her.

She watched as he lifted a picture of Rose. "That's Rose, my daughter, she travels with him."

His brow furrowed, "She's very pale, all pink and yellow-y."

"What?" She questioned, confused by the statement.

He shook his head before focusing on the telly that she had muted but left on. "Who is that then? Harriet Jones… Who's she?"

Jackie gave him an incredulous look "Where have you been? That's the bleedin' prime minister, that is, well, was, gonna have another election now aren't we? Vote of non-confidence and all after that business with the Sycorax invasion." Something whistled in the kitchen and Jackie disappeared off to attend to it.

"Sycorax Invasion?" He parroted dully.

"Blimey, what rock have you been hiding under? Everyone went up on the roofs Christmas morning didn't they, big space ship in the sky? It was all over the telly." The man shook his head and Jackie sighed at him, bringing over two mugs of tea. She caught his skeptical look into the mug and the way he tipped the liquid about, "it's just tea you plum, The Doctor is fond enough of it."

He looked surprised, but then a small smile pulled at the edges of his mouth and he gave a soft chuckle before laying the mug to the side. He looked like he was once again fighting off tears, and Jackie had to resist the maternal tug to comfort the stranger in her living room. He regained control though again a moment later, and after several minutes of awkward silence he shifted as though to prepare to leave.

She walked him to the door, stepping out into the frosty air, when he was half way down the steps she called after him, "Wait, I never caught your name."

He faltered a moment, reaching for a name, an identity, he latched onto the first name he could "Harrie- Harold, Harold Saxon, Harry if you'd like."

Jackie laughed, "You should run for prime minister, another Harry in office." He gave her a tight smile before taking the rest of the steps, "I'd vote for you."

"What, really?" He turned back at the bottom.

"Sure, good as anyone else right?"

"Better." He promised with a cheeky grin. She turned to go in, but as she closed the door she heard her name and stepped back out to look over the railing to where he stood alone, the snow swirling in eddies around him, "Jackie, do one more thing for me, make sure he knows... he's never alone... Can you do that?"

The Doctor didn't wake again until the next evening. Mickey and Rose had come round for a bit, but she had shooed them away again when they began to get a bit restless.

He had sat bolt upright in bed when she was in there folding some laundry.

"Feeling better?" He was looking around rather wildly, "What is it sweetheart?"

He ignored her, talking to himself, "No, I can smell him, but he can't be here, where is he?" He sounded a bit desperate as he threw back the covers.

He shoved past her to race, well, stagger, to the door, "You can smell him?!" Jackie asked incredulously, "Oh don't be stupid," Then she paused, eyes narrowing, "What else can you smell?"

"Jackie, who was he?" The voice floated in from the front door along with the frosty air, "What did he look like? Did he have, oh… I don't know, fangs, glowing eyes, anything just different? Something little even… Maybe a goatee?"

She seemed a bit put out at being ignored, and set about tidying up the living room a bit."Dunno, never seen him before. He was dressed a bit odd though, wasn't he? Big poofy sleeves, this weird neck tie thing, and all that. Sort of costumey, like he just walked out of a play. I dunno, get all sorts I guess, got you didn't we? He called himself Harold, Harold Saxon. I told him he should run for prime minister, be a laugh, first Harriet and then Harold. Reckon people could use a laugh."

"Harold?" He echoed, "Harold." It sounded like he was testing the name and not finding it quite to his liking, "Doesn't make sense. How can he be gone? How could he have been here though? I just- I don't know."

"Doctor, are you even paying attention?" She cut across his musings, "Ah come in and close the door, gonna run up the heating bill you are, he's long gone anyways. Come sit down and have some tea." It took a few attempts but she finally manhandled him back to the sofa.

They both sat there nursing their tea for a long time before Jackie decided to ask what had been weighing on her mind all day, "Are you Vulcans?" He gave her a blank stare and she gestured at the telly. It took him a moment, but he managed to choke on his mouthful of tea, she patted his back a bit as he tried to regain his breath without coughing.

It took several minutes and his eyes were watering by the time he managed to rasp out a "No. _No_. Not Vulcan"

"Well your ears aren't all that pointy." Though they did flame rather red with that remark. "But he did something vulcanny to you and-"

"Not Vulcan." He reiterated.

She nodded, "Harold isn't his real name is it?"

"No."

Jackie nodded, "Rose said that box of yours translates everything into English, but he was speaking something and I couldn't understand it."

"Gallifreyan I imagine."

"Oh, where do they speak that?"

"On Gallifrey."

"Oh." She fidgeted a bit, "Who was he?"

He hesitated, "A friend once, a long time ago, we grew up together."

"On Gallifrey?" She hedged cautiously,

He gave her a long look, "Yes, on Gallifrey, the Shining World of the Seven Systems."

His words held something a bit biting, a bit akin to sarcasm, "Is it… Is it far?"

"Oh, just… two hundred and fifty million light years, give or take."

"I- that's- oh."

"Yup." He popped the p lightly.

"What was it like?"

"Beautiful." His answer was bitten out, terse at best.

"Have you ever taken Rose there?"

"Nope." Another pop

"Will you?"

He gave her another long look, "No."

Something in his tone told her not to press the matter, "He mentioned an academy."

"Prydon." He supplied.

"And the Deca."

He looked over her shoulder, "A group of Prydon students, _friends_, a group of friends."

"Were you a part of that group?"

He hesitated, "Yes."

"And that man, Harold Saxon?"

He gave a ragged sigh, "_Yes_."

"What happened to them, where are they now?"

"Gone."

"Gone where?"

He stared down at the tea for a long time, not answering, looking a bit lost in its depths. "It solves _everything_. It's supposed to solve _everything._" He broke then, and Jackie rescued the mug before folding him into a tight embrace.

"He wanted me to tell you something Doctor." She said when the sobs had died down enough that she thought he might be able to hear her, "That friend of yours. He said to tell you that… well that you're never alone, and you aren't."


End file.
